


Nothing trivial about it

by ladygiggs



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, trivia night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-07 23:57:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12852285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladygiggs/pseuds/ladygiggs
Summary: Alec and Magnus are on rival trivia night teams. A one-shot based on an idea I just had to get out of my brain.





	Nothing trivial about it

Trivia night at Hunter’s Moon is usually pretty well attended but there are two teams in particular that have a presence every single week. This regular attendance has fostered a friendly rivalry between most members of each team, except for two. Alec Lightwood is currently scowling at his sister who is flirting at the bar with Simon, a member of Team Downworld. Alec took his trivia competitions pretty damn seriously and he did not approve of fraternising with the enemy. It didn’t help that Team Downworld is The Shadowhunters’ biggest rival, and the buzziest fly in Alec’s ointment is their unofficial team captain, Magnus Bane. “Unofficial” because no team really has a captain (though Alec is obviously the leader of his own team, because they make stupid decisions without him) but Team Downworld always seems to defer to Magnus whenever they are unsure of an answer. Magnus looks like a peacock, Alec thinks meanly, looking back at Team Downworld’s table. A very attractive, sexy, muscular peacock. And dammit, Alec’s lost his train of thought. Alec hates Magnus with his flourishes and cocktail drinking and the way he seems to get so many of the answers effortlessly. It’s so at odds with Alec, who while out of the closet now, was still a little uncomfortable in his skin after hiding who he is for so long. Deep down, Alec knows he doesn’t really hate Magnus. Alec doesn’t know if there’s a word for how he feels but the closest he can get is “attracted-jealous”. Magnus is hot and confident but, more than that, from his snooping and eavesdropping, Alec knows that he is funny and smart and caring too. Alec is shaken from his reverie by the announcement that the quiz is about to begin. He calls out to his sister to get her butt over to the table and gets the first round answer sheet in front of him, ready to write. 

Magnus drains his martini glass and corrects Raphael’s spelling of “Ouagadougou”. Geography is one of his many strong suits and he thinks it’s a nice first round to kick off the night. Raphael glares at him but fixes his mistake. As he looks around the room, fingering the garnish in his glass, Magnus catches sight of the pretty boy from The Shadowhunters. He knows his name is Alec and that he’s one of three siblings on the team and that he looks adorable when he gets frustrated trying to work out an answer. Team Downworld is generally pretty friendly with the other team. Magnus has chatted to Isabelle and Jace a few times and even had a few laughs with Raj at the bar. But Alec never interacts with other teams and clearly doesn’t see trivia night as a social event, the way Magnus does. Not that Magnus isn’t a competitive quizzer. He hates losing, but he tries never to show it. And they usually lose to The Shadowhunters so the silver lining is that he occasionally sees Alec’s serious face crack a sunny smile or relieved laughter. And Alec is gorgeous. Tall and handsome, sure, but he also carries himself with an authority that makes Magnus think some very bad thoughts. On top of that, he knows Alec is protective of his friends and siblings. Magnus has seen him alert and on standby every time some creep had hit on Isabelle. Isabelle could, of course, handle herself, but Magnus admired the fact that Alec was ready to step in if necessary. Magnus is so caught up thinking about Alec that he misses the last question of the round. Catarina nudges him in the side, “Uh, Magnus? Most populous island of Indonesia?” 

Halfway through the night, the trivia masters call an intermission so they can tally scores and the competitors can have a break. Magnus decides to make his way to the bar. He spots the tall figure of Alec and sidles up next to him.  
“Evening, Shadowhunter,” he tips an imaginary hat at the other man, “having a good night so far?”  
Alec looks slightly shocked, just staring at Magnus with his mouth hanging open for a second too long. He shakes his head, as if to clear it and just says, “Well, if we’re beating Team Downworld, then, yeah, it’s a good night.”  
Magnus raises an eyebrow and can’t help a smile.  
“What kind of name is that anyway?” Alec continues, “Team Downworld? Is it some kind of hipster thing?”  
“Well, we can’t all have team names straight out of ‘Twilight’, that would be terribly passé,” Magnus counters airily.  
“What the? It’s not from ‘Twilight’!” Alec sputters.  
Magnus loves how Alec goes from aggressive to flustered in a matter of seconds. He orders a drink while Alec is composing himself. When the bartender returns, there’s another martini for Magnus and a beer for Alec.  
“I took the liberty of ordering the same thing I usually see you drinking, I hope you don’t mind,” Magnus tells a still slightly stunned-looking Alec.  
“How do you know...are you spying on me?” Alec asks suspiciously.  
“Yes, Alexander, I am spying on you in a public bar during an open trivia night week after week. It has been my sole focus for quite some time now,” Magnus winks and almost laughs at Alec’s confusion that quickly turns to embarrassment when he realises he’s being teased.  
“How do you know my name?” Alec grumbles, taking a drink of his beer.  
“I asked,” Magnus replies, “I wanted a name to go with that pretty face of yours.”  
Alec lifts an eyebrow and a corner of his mouth turns up a little. 

Neither Team Downworld or The Shadowhunters have any idea where their unofficial team leaders disappear to during the last round but they pay for the loss heavily. In a result that stuns both teams, they actually lose to a new table, one with the rather misleading name of “Mundane AF”. Both teams sit glumly as they watch the usurpers collect their gift voucher. As they start to drain the last of their drinks and ready themselves to leave, Magnus and Alec walk back to their respective tables. Magnus’ hair is uncharacteristically mussed and there is a small hickey already developing on the side of his neck. Alec meanwhile has reddened, slightly swollen lips and he runs a hand through equally tousled hair. They think they do pretty well at avoiding attention until Jace exclaims, “Goddamit!” Magnus and Alec both look at him, slightly alarmed.  
Jace continues, “Ok, who had tonight in the pool?”  
Magnus and Alec have no idea what he’s talking about until Clary whoops and waves her hand. Ragnor groans, “You couldn’t have waited one more week, Magnus?”  
Magnus just stares at him, “What are you talking about?”  
Clary answers, as she walks around and collects bills from each member of Team Downworld and The Shadowhunters, “We all had bets on how long it would take for you two to hook up. Some of us tapped out pretty early.”  
Simon groans, “I thought you two wouldn’t wait more than a couple of weeks!”  
Clary continues, “But I got it just right. I think Isabelle had you down for another month, at least.”  
“He’s so frickin’ repressed!” exclaims Isabelle, glaring at her brother and handing her money over to Clary.  
“He’s really not,” Magnus says without thinking and both tables just pause for a moment before bursting into laughter.  
Alec buries his face in his hands and only looks up when Magnus tugs on his wrist.  
“You wanna get out of here?”  
Alec nods and takes Magnus’ hand in his own. They walk out of Hunter’s Moon together. 

The following week, Team Shadow World shocks the bar by scoring an unprecedented 100% on the quiz. As Magnus and Alec watch their friends celebrate, hands linked, they agree this win is definitely the second best thing that’s ever happened to them at trivia night.


End file.
